


An Inauspicious Meeting

by Jandeera



Series: A Long Way From Home Alternate Universe [1]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-01
Updated: 2013-06-02
Packaged: 2017-12-13 16:52:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/826588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jandeera/pseuds/Jandeera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first meeting of Denethor and Thorongil.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrival in Edoras

The sky overhead Edoras was clear and blue, with soft white clouds dotted without thought over its expanse. The grass on the ground below was a rich green which spoke of recent rain, and the hay fields waved gently in the wind, a golden wave of fodder for the next winter. Workers in those fields could see a large number of ornate carriages, with a large number of mounted horsemen escorting them, travelling along the road to Edoras. They would arrive there within the hour. 

This convoy, unbeknownst to those workers, were in the service of the twenty fifth ruling Steward of Gondor, Ecthelion, or Theli as he was known to those closest to him, with the exception of three. To those, he was Ada, or if Ecthelion had said, or done, something that had annoyed the youngest, all three of his children would revert to calling him Father. He wasn’t quite sure what they tried to achieve with this, as it had never upset him, nor made him change his mind on a certain decision, but children would be children.

Said ‘child’ was also travelling with the convoy. He and his father were travelling to Edoras on business, namely the purchase of horses for Gondor’s cavalry contingent. The Rohirric horses were by far better suited to the type of warfare most commonly seen in Gondor, than the horses they could get from Dol Amroth. Those animals were descended from the lighter breeds in the south, from days when trade still occurred between Dol Amroth, and Harad. These animals could hold more weight, and still be able to manoeuvre with it. When trying to find mounts for knights wearing full plate armour, this ability is essential. So here they were, the Steward of Gondor, and his heir, on their journey north, five years after the last one. 

Ecthelion was riding at the head on the convoy, along with Denethor. Ecthelion’s thoughts were less about the horses he was trying to buy than his son’s were. Rather he was thinking about the young northern captain that Thengel had written to him about. The young man had come south, with a small contingent of men, wishing to learn about the larger armies that Gondor and Rohan fielded, as compared to the small band of Rangers that kept the borders of what remained of Arnor safe. The man, little more than a youth by the Numenorean standards of Gondor, had been in Thengel’s service for roughly two years now, and Thengel thought he could use the experience that Gondor would give him. Also, if Thengel was correct about the man’s age (as he had refused to give it), he would be only a few years older than his own son, which would be good for Denethor, as till this point he had never truly had someone his own age to converse with. The sons of nobles that were Denethor’s age were too well versed in etiquette to befriend the Steward’s youngest child. If all went well with this northern Captain, Ecthelion was planning on bringing the man into his own household, in order to get around that particular piece of rubbish that ruled the High Court of Gondor more thoroughly than he could ever hope to.

They soon arrived in Edoras, and with a refreshing lack of ceremony the convoy disbanded, the guards and servants heading off to do their duties, and Ecthelion and Denethor were joined by Thengel, who offered to have them shown to their rooms. A running joke between Ecthelion and Thengel, as they always used the same rooms when they visited.

After washing up, Denethor left his room, and started wandering through Meduseld, looking for any differences from when he had been there last. He found one very quickly in the small library. A man of Numenorean descent, obviously here from Gondor without the Captain-General’s (his) permission.


	2. A Fight in the Library

“What are you doing here?”  
“Reading.”  
“Don’t you realise how much trouble you are in? Your attitude won’t help you here.”  
“My attitude is fine. Yours might need some adjusting, though.”  
“Don’t you know who I am?”  
“No, and I don’t particularly think I want to.”

At this point the other man stood up, put his book back on the shelf, and goes to walk past Denethor to exit the room. Denethor put an arm out to stop him going past. The man, by this stage thoroughly annoyed by Denethor’s high handed behaviour, and rather tired, having only come in from a long patrol an hour before, threw a punch, which Denethor quickly returned. 

The fight escalated quickly. Both were sporting a number of contusions when, unbeknownst to them, the door to the library opened. Thengel and Ecthelion walked through, and immediately started trying to separate the two. By the time the two fighters were separated, the depth of trouble they were in was starting to sink in. Denethor, with his arms pinned across his chest, was hauled out of the room by his father, Thengel with the other man. A short walk had them back at the rooms set aside for Ecthelion and Denethor. Both men were released as they entered the sitting room shared by father and son.

“Corners. Now.” Came Ecthelion’s bark, and not wanting to upset the two rulers anymore than they already had, both of the young men quickly walked to corners not taken up by furniture. With their backs now to the room, Ecthelion and Thengel had a quick discussion. Denethor, as Ecthelion’s son, was his to discipline, but Thorongil was another matter. He had already agreed to take his contingent of men to Gondor, but had not yet met Ecthelion, and both the elder men were concerned as to how he would react to someone he had never met before handling his discipline.

In the end, the decision was taken out of the two elder men’s hands. Thengel was called away to deal with another matter. Before leaving however, he walked over to Thorongil, and said something in a soft whisper, which even in the quiet of the sitting room, Ecthelion could not pick up. Thorongil nodded, Thengel clasped his shoulder tightly, and then with a nod at Ecthelion, walked out of the room.


	3. A Conversation of Great Importance

Trusting that, as they were already in trouble, he could leave the two of them alone in the sitting room for a while, Ecthelion left to check on the third bedroom, which Thengel had said had been made up, and Thorongil things moved there, so as to allow Ecthelion and Denethor get to know their new Captain more easily. On entering the room, Ecthelion could see that while it had been made ready for an occupant, it did not appear that anyone had moved in yet. Moving back into the main room, he called for Thorongil to join him. Once sure that the young captain was following the order, he turned and walked back into Thorongil’s room.

Thorongil stopped just inside the door, a slight nervousness showing about his face that would have been undetectable for someone without the abilities apparent in him due to his Numenorean descent. Seeing him up close for the first time made Ecthelion re-evaluate how old he was. Thengel could be forgiven for thinking the young man before him was forty or there about. The legendary youthful appearance of the Dunedain meant that many outside that lineage had to guess at ages based on the actions of the person whom they were trying to evaluate. From what Ecthelion could read in this young one’s eyes, he had grown up too fast, despite the best efforts of his father. As such Ecthelion was willing to assume that the man in front of him was closer to Denethor’s age of thirty, than to the age that Thengel had assigned to him.

Motioning to Thorongil to shut the door, Ecthelion walked over to the fireplace, and arranged two of the chairs there so that they faced each other. He sat down in one, and turned his head to face Thorongil, who was still hovering near the, now closed, door.

“Sit, lad,” came Ecthelion’s calm voice, breaking the silence that had reigned in the room.

Thorongil moved across the room with a glace that reminded Ecthelion of elves, and also of Adrahil’s youngest daughter, who had spent the past year trying to get Denethor to recognise the fact that she was trying to court him. This, while amusing to Adrahil and himself, was beginning to become something of a scandal in Gondor’s court.

Thorongil sat in the chair opposite, and stared down at his hands, which were folded in his lap. His fingers were running around his ring finger, as if they were playing with a ring. A ring that was not currently on the lad’s finger.

“What happened in the library, Thorongil?”

Thorongil glanced up, before looking at his hands once again.

“I threw the first punch, my Lord.”

“While good to know, that wasn’t quite what I was asking. By all accounts I’ve heard you are normally quite an even tempered lad. So what did my son say to you had had you hit him?”

“He came up to me in the library, I’d certainly never seen him before, and started demanding me to tell him what I was doing here. I told him I was reading, it was a library after all, and I had a book in hand. He started to complain about my attitude, and asked if I knew how much trouble I was in. So, I told him my attitude was fine, but his needed adjusting. He asked if I knew who he was, I told him no, and that I didn’t want to. I got up to walk away, but he put his arm in my way. I, I lost my temper and punched him. He hit me back, and that’s how it continued until you appeared.”

“Thank you for your honesty, Thorongil. Now, if you were my son, you would be over my lap very quickly, and not sitting comfortably for a few days. However, if you are not comfortable with me treating you like that, then I will find another way to discipline you.”

“I can take the spanking, Sir.”

“I have no doubt you could ‘take it’, as you say. What I am asking is if you are willing to let me discipline you, comfort you when it’s over, and make sure you understand what you could have done differently. It is not about ‘taking it’, Captain. Pain alone is not going help much. If anything it is just as likely, if not more so, to make the one on the receiving end resent the giver. I do not want that for you.”

Thorongil nodded, “I accept your terms, Sir.”

At this, Ecthelion walked over to Thorongil’s bed, and sat down on the edge of it. Thorongil followed and stood by his right hand.

“You need to lose your breeches lad, but leave your small clothes in place.”

With a sigh of relief, Thorongil loosen his breeches and pushed them down to the tops of his boots, with an ease that spoke of the familiarity of the action. Ecthelion quickly hid a grin. This new captain of his might not be as easy going as he had been told.

Once Thorongil was standing upright again, Ecthelion grabbed his left wrist, and guided him over his lap. Once in place, he pulled the lads legs up onto the bed.

Before he started he asked, “What is this spanking for?”

“For throwing the first punch and for getting into a fight.”

This is said with such in such a practised tone that Ecthelion had to grin. Clearly this was not the first time the captain had been reprimanded for such actions.

“What should you have done?”

“Should have explained who I was, and where I came from, rather than let him continue to assume I was one of his soldiers, absent without his permission.”

“Thank you, Thorongil.”

With this the first spank fell.

After a couple of minutes, Thorongil was crying softly, and promising to behave, that he would start another fight ever again. Ecthelion ended the spanking and sat there, rubbing the young one’s back. After a moment, Thorongil slid from the bed, and knelt by Ecthelion’s feet, resting his head on the older man’s thigh. Ecthelion slipped his hand into Thorongil’s hair, and started giving his head a gentle massage, something which had always helped Denethor calm down after a spanking.  
After sitting like this for a time, Thorongil’s body started to lean more heavily against Ecthelion’s legs. Ecthelion carefully stood up, keeping one hand on Thorongil’s head to stop it from falling. He then eased back the covers on the bed, and then helped a sleepy Thorongil to his feet. Thorongil promptly collapsed onto the bed, face first, leaving Ecthelion to pull his tunic off him, difficult, as Thorongil didn’t want to move, and also pull his boots and breeches all the way off. 

After moving Thorongil’s feet onto the bed, Ecthelion pulled the covers up over him, and with a final pat to the top of his head, left him to sleep while Ecthelion went to deal with his other miscreant, Denethor.


	4. And Peace at Last

The moment Ecthelion walked out of Thorongil’s room he was met with a barrage of information from Denethor, all answers to the questions he had asked Thorongil not that long ago, but this time from Denethor’s perspective. Ecthelion walked straight to Denethor’s room, and called his son to follow him in.

Ecthelion, by this stage sitting on the edge of Denethor’s bed, marvelled at the differences between his son, and the young captain he had just dealt with. Denethor came marching into the room, shut the door, and threw himself over his father’s lap. Ecthelion waited for a moment. Denethor gave him a quick grin as he stood back up, pushed his breeches to his knees, and resumed his former position. Ecthelion started the spanking soon after, as there was no need for the conversation he had had with Thorongil, as it would only be going back over things that Denethor had already admitted to.

After Denethor’s backside had been turned rather red in colour, Ecthelion ended the spanking and scooped his child up in his arms. Rocking him gently, he waited for the tears to abate. After a couple of minutes, Denethor started to squirm, Ecthelion’s signal that his son wanted to be let go, and left alone to lick his wounds in private. 

As Ecthelion left the room, he made one final comment to his son.

“I do hope you realise that you are grounded to these rooms for the next week.”

Denethor’s whine simply made Ecthelion laugh as he shut the door to his son’s room.

He then walked over to Thorongil’s room, and knocked gently. When he didn’t receive an answer, he open the door quietly and hastily stifled a laugh. All that could be seen was a large lump in the bed; Thorongil had pulled the covers over his head. Ecthelion walked over and gently pulled the covers away from his face, ensuring that the young one would be able to breathe. This done, he walked over to the well stocked writing desk where he wrote Thorongil a message, telling him he was grounded, along with Denethor, to their rooms for the rest of the week.

With peace finally reigning, Ecthelion took his leave of both boys, and went to talk horses with Thengel.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone sees any mistakes, please let me know so that I can fix them.


End file.
